While we wait for his publicist to confirm or deny, let’s assume that Stevie Wonder was not thinking baseball when he penned his classic, “Superstition,” for Motown Records in 1972.

But he just as well might have been, because there can be no truer statement than the “when you believe in things that you don’t understand, then you suffer” line; especially when it comes to baseball and superstition.

Unfortunately, there is no way to quantify the usefulness of most of this stuff. I mean, how are we going to compare the instances of a pitcher jumping over the chalk line to his ability to get guys out? Number of turned-around caps to actual comeback rallies resulting in victory? There’s just no way.

Wade Boggs was a great ball player; we’re talking .328-with-3010-hits-lifetime great. Ate a bleepload of chicken before games too. But did the fowl make a difference, and if so, how much? And you probably don’t want to get me started on the whole red underwear thing, and what that meant might’ve meant to his OBP.

So is it any wonder that Dodgers’ hurler Chris Capuano carried a no-hitter into the late innings at Miami Sunday and didn’t get the required 27 outs? Come on. How could he possibly, with the lamest of the lame superstitions in sports, if not all of humanity, starting him in the face.

Almost without exception, baseball players do not talk to a pitcher in the midst of a no-hit performance, and Los Angeles stuck to tradition yesterday. So there should have been no big surprise when Marlins’ shortstop Jose Reyes lined a sharp single to center in the seventh, leaving our man eight outs short of immortality. “Superstition ain’t the way, no, no, no.” Translation: No no-no for Capuano. A no-no? No. No no-no.

As best we can, let’s do the math. Beginning with Joe Borden in 1875 straight on through to Matt Cain’s perfect game June 13 in San Francisco, all told there have been 277 no-hitters thrown in major league history. That’s 277, out of what, hundreds of thousands of chances? A million ballgames, maybe.

And how many one-hitters, two-hitters, three-hitters have been recorded, in which the man had his gem broken up late, with nothing and no one to keep him company but what he can only hope are his heretofore untested nerves of steel? I’ll tell you how many. Oh, I’ll tell you how many. It’s incalculable is how many. That’s how many.

We’re talking countless masterpieces, literally thousands of them, all fallen by the wayside in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings of games, each and every one of them with the poor schlub standing on the mound in virtual solitary confinement.

This silent treatmenting of pitchers during no-hitters has got to stop. Really, it simply must stop. Because clearly, it does not work. It doesn’t work. It does not work!

Look baseball, talk to the damn guy. He’s got a much better chance. “The writing’s on the wall,” OK. Talk to the pitcher. He’s your teammate, for Capuano’s sake. You want a no-hitter on your side of the ledger, talk to the damn guy! Your opponents are sitting in the other dugout with their caps on backwards , so increase your chances. Talk to the damn guy!!

Yasiel Puig has been promoted from the Arizona Rookie League to the Quakes in the high-level Class-A Cal League after playing just nine games in which he went 12-for-30 (.400) with four home runs, three triples, six walks and 11 RBIs. I know it’s a loooong shot, but I’d love to see this guy swinging in the majors when rosters expand.

av·a·tar [av-uh-tahr, av-uh-tahr] noun
1.Hindu Mythology. the descent of a deity to the earth in an incarnate form or some manifest shape; the incarnation of a god.
2.an embodiment or personification, as of a principle, attitude, or view of life.
3.Digital Technology. a graphical image that represents a person, as on the Internet.
4.(in science fiction) a hybrid creature, composed of human and alien DNA and remotely controlled by the mind of a genetically matched human being.

And, “Avatar is a 2009 American epic science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron, and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Joel David Moore, Giovanni Ribisi and Sigourney Weaver.”

@Howard Cole Was a big hit:
“During its theatrical run, the film broke several box office records and became the highest-grossing film of all time, as well as in the United States and Canada, surpassing Titanic, which had held those records for twelve years (1997-2009). It also became the first film to gross more than $2 billion.”

@Johnny Dodger Maybe Uribe is gonna be like Dave Parker. People forget that Parker had a resurgence with the Reds in the mid 80′s. He finished second in MVP voting in 1985 hitting .312 with 42 doubles, 34 home runs, and 125 RBI. And in 1986, he was fifth in the MVP voting, with 31 home runs and 116 RBI.

@DeathByYoungblood parker is also the first guy I ever heard anyone use the five-tool concept, except they didn’t call it that. it was curt gowdy: “he can run, he he can throw, he can throw with power,” or something.

@DeathByYoungblood @Johnny Dodger they’re bringing up herrera now, but they should’ve brought him back for uribe weeks ago. it’s just silly. maybe they’re holding out the slimmest hope, that if they trade for a guy with a huge contract, that the other team will take uribe, and just release him.

and I’m going to try again to take the day off from writing. I keep trying to and then coming up with stuff I want to say. maybe tomorrow I’ll rest the fingers and the brain stem. if so, we’ll just do the thread right here again. I’ll send a link.

@larrydoby Yes, as long as it’s online on youtube, flickr, twitpic, imgur, img.ly, tinypic, or vimeo.
And of course, these are all family-oriented sites I believe. You can’t just put ANY picture on Livefyre.

looks like sf got a safety, so it’s still a good football score. but brad penny managed to get out with his life, just barely keeping his ERA below 7. 6.86, to be precise. good for him, good for frisco, good for los angeles.

I have a minute to check in. First, if Bills continues to pitch well in this one I’ll take back some of the bad stuff I’ve said about him. Second, love is overrated… like expensive meals and gummy bears.

yeah. from our perspective, they’re catching washington at the right time and we’re getting pittsburgh at the right time. maybe by the time we play the nats, they’ll be going through a rough patch. they haven’t had one yet, so they’re due.

Wish the Nats were playing Morse tonight. He’s great vs righties and he’s hitting .313 since the break with 7 HRs and 24 RBIs. This looks like one of those games where they just can’t hit a guy like Bum.

@larrydoby ahh larry. first of all, if the dodgers could’ve sent uribe down without his permission they would’ve done that months ago. you almost never ever see a club even bother to go that route, and we’re talking maybe once a decade, but it wouldn’t have been a bad idea with uribe

but more importantly, the guy is done. a couple weeks in the minors is not going to help him. he’s just plain done. I suppose if the guy wanted to change his entire game, and I mean everything related to being a baseball player (with the bat anyway) AND he decided to be a professional athlete and lose 40 pounds, but he had his chance last winter and chose to do nothing but get fatter.

@DeathByYoungblood two words: scum and bag. wait, make that three words: GIANTS. big bleeping surprise. all year long I’ve been asking, “Melky Cabrera?”, Melky Cabrera?! How in the world is Melky Cabrera hitting .350??!!!” 250, sure, but .350?

@DeathByYoungblood or any combination thereof. but hey, did you happen to see the hot dog crap melky threw up at the braves in atlanta a couple weeks ago? just made a complete ass of himself, and chipper jones said something like “that’s melky, that’s why he’s not here anymore.” that fits the giants too.

@Rickstr I wouldn’t say loving, but I don’t have much patience for that kind of crap. especially for a giant. but better it happen now that a month ago, when they would’ve had an easier time making a trade for a left fielder.

@Howard Cole I may have a Substitute meeting that night I have to try to find out. Based on what’s going on, its important I attend these meetings, may be able to do both! Meeting is like at 5 pm near Western and Wilshere!

@Johnny Dodger the bucs just look ready to collapse, and a four game sweep at home would go a long way. but still, blanton’s got to go two or three more inning. or they have to hook him before it gets too bad.

I figured blanton would be bad, but not this bad. and I was just hoping he’d pitch well because he does in the well in second halfs. but I didn’t really expect him to be any better than the minor leaguers they had going.